Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Now that my commuting routine has changed and I haven't had a chance to hook up with my morning coffee klaatch, I've been reduced to driving into work in my Jetta, switching stations that seem to play the same 10 songs over and over again. Unless I'm listening to John Tesh - who I absolutely love - I have found other ways to entertain myself while driving into Manhattan. I sing.

But I don't just sing. I sing at the top of my lungs, belting out tunes from my iPhone that pretty much take me back to high school. I've got at least 200 songs from the eighties on my phone, mixed in with some Hannah Montana, American Idol favorites and the random Cheetah Girls single. And yes, when I'm all alone and a car passes me by on the road, they might just see me mouthing the words to "Best of Both Worlds," and frankly, I don't really care.

Being alone in my car takes me back to the days when I used to drive into the city from my home in Brooklyn. Back then I was single, just starting out in my career and had a great looking red sports car that would literally turn heads as I drove by. Today, in my zippy black Jetta, I don't pay attention if people are staring at me. I'm too busy finding songs that are in my key that I can sing along too and pretend in my mind that I'm in a recording studio putting the finishing touches on my latest CD.

For me, there is nothing that compares to driving along the West Side Highway with songs from my past filling my brain. From Chicago, to James Taylor (which my DH pretty much can't stand), to Elton John to 38 Special - yes I am cheesy - I had the best time today singing my heart out on the way to work.

And then, on the way home, I get to play some more tunes - today it was Michael Buble and Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray. As much as I love my train commute, I have to admit that driving alone into Manhattan definitely has it perks. Sure I'll never get discovered singing all alone in my volkswagen but who cares - at least there's no one in the car telling me to stop because the music is hurting their ears.